Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Conferences

Just a quick note about the teacher conferences that I went to for my own children. Last year my son was in a pilot class that got to use iPod touches. This year they get nothing. How does a student go from using technology as a learning tool to not getting access? Not very well.

My son loves science and hands on learning. This year he has done very little of it. They just started science this past week and will not start social studies until second semester. Why? The teacher said it was because the district mandates only math and ELA until after the MEAP (our state standardized test).

I mentioned that ELA in particular could be learned in the context of science and social studies since it is skills based. The teacher didn't seem to like my suggestions and got a bit defensive. (Yeah, I'm that parent).

How do you all advocate for your own children's quality of education effectively?

8 comments:

The idea that science, math, and English are separate subjects is antiquated. People want students to be engaged in the process of learning; however, they demand that the content be stripped of its authenticity in order to learn the parts. A bit paradoxical, don't you think? If your son is in grades 5th-8th, then perhaps he might like to try an amBook (www.mininggems.org). Check it out. I think that we live in a transitional time, not just in technology but in how we perceive teaching and learning.

I just went to my son's conference for his AT class last night. They know I am a teacher and teacher tech trainer, so they are always super defensive whenever we have to communicate...sigh..so I always get "we have laptops now" (but use them for skill/drill programs), they are learning powerpoint (my son has been doing presentations for years on open office, google docs, etc), they are learning "microsoft word"....double sigh...we haven't had microsoft in a minute...not since we can use free open source products like open office and google docs....which brings me to the conversation I had with the computer teacher who berated my son because we don't have microsoft office on any of our computers. She was upset when he pulled up his assignment on google docs and told her he could download it as a doc, this was "unacceptable" to her and if I can't "afford" microsoft products he can stay afterschool or come before school to do the assignments there...I am opting for a phone conference for the next one, because as an educator its so difficult for me to interact with my son's teachers. He is in 5th grade and gets pulled out and travels to a different school (another set of teachers) for the AT program (which frankly the curriculum is what I do in my regular ed class) so I have to many years to go and need a solid future plan of attack...sorry for the long rant..

I'm that parent too. The last conversation was along the lines of 'I can't teach science because my kids can't write sentences.' 'But can't they write sentences about butterfly life cycles? I mean the sentence has to be about something.'

I don't know what else to do except pray you get a good one. I'm on the school council but it doesn't seem to do much.

I'm that parent AND I work in the same school my son is attending. I work to actively change our system from within, and subversively through interactions with my son's teachers during parent-teacher interactions.

R Lynn, Deb, and David,Thanks for sharing your stories. It is just hard for me knowing there are better ways for students to learn to watch my own kids do worksheets instead of some kinds of hands-on learning...

Grr, as a parent of 3 kids in primary - who rarely use technology, and when they do it's so basic it's pointless, it ticks me off to hear this. I have zero expectations that they are even interested, let alone have a desire to change practice. The solution, build an epic open world for parents and kids - do get all those ISTE NETs skills and XP. So we built http://www.massivelyminecraft.org. Open to all. The kids generally work 3/4 years ahead of the grade expectation in school, and all of them hit every one of the NETs in their first week, as shown in the Guild site above. So we're asking parents and kids to invest $15 in the game, and donate what they can in time/money to help fund the server. We are almost 100 kids and 24/7, so really, as a parent, I don't care what the school fumbles about with, my kids are connected to something much more useful, and have access to some amazing teachers when ever they like.

As a parent, I get so tired of this 'but does technology work' rubbish. It avoids the issue that many teachers are ineffective in the 'traditional mode', repeating the same set of lessons year in year out. That ain't 10 years of experience, that 1 year repeated.

Put your kids in the Mines, come play with the other kids ... soothes the parent-angst.

I am a teacher in an inner city middle school struggling to stay afloat. I am encouraged to be a 'paperless' instructor without the hardware in place that would enable the students to be successful. The laptop carts that are available have malfunctioning laptops and the software necessary for me to go 'paperless' is not installed, and I cannot install because I don't have administrator level access to change software. Its disheartening that the disparity and segregation of schools exists at such high levels in the 21st century.

Subscribe via RSS Reader

Teach Paperless: Now!

TeachPaperless began in February 2009 as a blog detailing the experiences of one teacher in a paperless classroom. It has grown to be something much more than that. In January 2011, TeachPaperless became a collaboratively written blog dedicated to conversation and commentary about the intertwined worlds of digital technology, new media, and education.

Buzz Paperless

TeachPaperless was noted as a Twitterer worth ReTweeting by Education Week's Digital Education blog. Also in Ed Week: "Shelly Blake-Plock has had some really intriguing posts already this year and I'm already behind. Considering he published 639 entries on his TeachPaperless blog in 2009 it's going to be hard to keep up, but well worth the try."

“When I originally contacted Shelley last week to inquire as to whether or not he would be willing to talk to my staff, he jumped right in, and he didn’t disappoint. What impressed me most about him as I listened to him describe his practice was his clear vision of what it meant for his students to function in a classroom that he designed: it was about them learning. He truly designed the environment with their learning–their unbridled learning–in mind. His decision was not a secretarial one, but rather came from a desire to push students to take control of information gathering, processing, and creating.” – Chalkdust 101

TeachPaperless was named one of the 'Top 25 Blogs for Educators' byWorld Wide Learn.

"I think you have some great ideas for teachers, and as we do professional development around the state of Maryland, we will point teachers to your blog." Debbie Vickers of Thinkport.org a partnership between Maryland Public Television and Johns Hopkins University's Center for Technology in Education

"The invention of the computer promised to lead us to a paperless society but has failed to deliver on that promise... until now, perhaps?" TeachPaperless was featured by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning as an Everyday Innovation

Your friendly contributing bloggers...

License and Disclaimer

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

You may re-use this content online for noncommercial purposes without needing to ask permission, as long as you credit the source in writing as Teach Paperless and on the web by adding a link back to our web site,www.teachpaperless.com

And of course, everything on this blog is the personal opinion of the individual bloggers and does not reflect the opinions of of anyone else, including employers, in any way. But that should be obvious by now.

Photo Credit: MJ Wojewodzki; a portion of a painted wall in the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii [2006]